Optically transmissive antenna break structures for wireless devices, and associated systems and processes
Disclosed are structures, methods and systems for wireless devices that are configured to allow the transmission of light through an enhanced antenna break for a wide variety of purposes. In an illustrative embodiment, an antenna break is configured to allow the passage of both wireless communication signals and light, such as to notify the user of one or more conditions. The light transmission can be integrated with other functions of the wireless device, such as to provide a flash for operation of a camera, to provide a light source for scanning or 3D sensing, to provide light in conjunction to acoustic or vibration output, or to sense light for other integrated functions.
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This Application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/249,130, filed Oct. 30, 2015 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/317,775, filed Apr. 4, 2016, which are incorporated herein in their entireties by this reference thereto.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONAt least one embodiment of the present invention pertains to an antenna break for an enclosure of a wireless device, in which the antenna break is optically transmissive. More particularly, at least one embodiment of the present invention pertains to an antenna break for a wireless device, in which light can pass therethrough to provide any of display or sensing functions.
BACKGROUNDWireless devices such as mobile phones often include a metal casing or enclosure. However, such devices also include an antenna for sending and receiving wireless signals. The form factor for most current wireless devices requires that the antenna be located within the interior region of the casing or enclosure. However, the use of an all-metal casing for a device that includes an internal antenna often results unacceptable attenuation or loss of wireless signals.
Non-metallic antenna breaks have been developed and implemented for wireless devices, which are integrated with the casing or enclosure, to improve the transmission and reception of wireless radio signals. Efforts have been made to make such breaks aesthetically pleasing, such as to be flush with respect to adjoining surfaces of the casing, and often comprise an opaque thermoplastic structure.
Other functions related to the mobile device, such as displays, lighting, cameras, user interfaces, and/or flash units, are often implemented at other locations in either the casing or a front display surface.
One or more embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements.
References in this description to “an embodiment”, “one embodiment”, or the like, mean that the particular feature, function, structure or characteristic being described is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Occurrences of such phrases in this specification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment. On the other hand, the embodiments referred to also are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
Introduced here are enhanced antenna break structures for wireless devices that can be used for the transmission and/or reception of light, such as to display notifications for a user, or for integration with other device functions.
In certain embodiments, the enhanced antenna break structures can be transparent or translucent, and can be tinted or colored.
In certain embodiments, a light source includes one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs) or laser diodes (LDs).
In certain embodiments, an enhanced light source is combined with an optical diffuser and/or other reflective or refractive elements.
In certain embodiments, an enhanced light source can operate as a flash unit, such as in conjunction with an integrated camera unit.
In certain embodiments, the enhanced light source can operate in conjunction with a sensor, such as to provide any of user controls, e.g., power and/or volume, fingerprint sensing, ambient light sensing, proximity sensing, an optical trackpad, or a heart rate sensor.
In certain embodiments, the enhanced light effects can provide notifications, which can further provide output based on priority. Such lighting effects can include functions such as any of off/on, flashing, or varied intensities, e.g., sinusoidal light intensity at one location, e.g., a light position, or at more than one locations, e.g., a standing or traveling light wave projected from a light pipe.
The illustrative housing 14 seen in
The antenna break 20 seen in
For instance, one or more lights 22 can be powered on and off 84 for a variety of purposes, such as for any of a notification, a flash, an accessory light, or to provide a source light for sensing purposes. One or more of the light sources 22 can be colored or can provide one or more colors, e.g., a red green blue (RGB) light emitting diode (LED), such that the processor 24 can be configured to power the light source 22 to emit 86 one or more colors.
In some embodiments, the processor 24 seen in
The operation of one or more light sources 22 can be integrated with a wide variety of system functions and operations. For instance, one or more lights 22 can notify the user U of an incoming call or email, such as in conjunction with or instead of an acoustic or vibrational alarm. As well, the operation of one or more light sources 22 can be integrated with the function of other components, such as to provide one or more flash sources 64 for operation of a camera 62, or to provide an infrared (IR) light source 502 (
As also seen in
The implementation of the enhanced antenna break 20 can enable a wide variety of new functions for the wireless device 12, through one or more enhanced lights 22 and/sensors 110, which are configured to send and/or receive light 42 through the antenna break 20.
The use of the antenna break 20 for the communication of optical signals 42 allows a wide variety of light sources 22 and sensors 110 to be used. For instance, while one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs) 22 can be used to transmit light directly outward through the optically transmissive antenna break 20, other light sources 22 and supplementary components can be used. For example, the light source 22 can include one or more laser diodes (LD) 122 (
The optical diffuser 124 seen in
The laser diodes 122 can be driven in a variety of ways, to create a variety of illumination effects. In some embodiments, the laser diodes 122 can be driven with a pulse width modulated (PWM) signal such as to produce illuminated standing or moving wave patterns 184 (
In the illustrated embodiment, the processing system 800 includes one or more processors 802, memory 804, a communication device 806, and one or more input/output (I/O) devices 808, all coupled to each other through an interconnect 810. The interconnect 810 may be or include one or more conductive traces, buses, point-to-point connections, controllers, adapters and/or other conventional connection devices. The processor(s) 802, such as the processor 24, may be or include, for example, one or more general-purpose programmable microprocessors, microcontrollers, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable gate arrays, or the like, or a combination of such devices. The processor(s) 802 control the overall operation of the processing device 800. Memory 804, such as schematically shown as 82 (
Unless contrary to physical possibility, it is envisioned that (i) the methods/steps described above may be performed in any sequence and/or in any combination, and that (ii) the components of respective embodiments may be combined in any manner.
The illumination and/or scanning techniques introduced above can be implemented by programmable circuitry programmed/configured by software and/or firmware, or entirely by special-purpose circuitry, or by a combination of such forms. Such special-purpose circuitry (if any) can be in the form of, for example, one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc.
Software or firmware to implement the techniques introduced here may be stored on a machine-readable storage medium and may be executed by one or more general-purpose or special-purpose programmable microprocessors. A “machine-readable medium”, as the term is used herein, includes any mechanism that can store information in a form accessible by a machine (a machine may be, for example, a computer, network device, cellular phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), manufacturing tool, any device with one or more processors, etc.). For example, a machine-accessible medium includes recordable/non-recordable media, e.g., read-only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices; etc.
Note that any and all of the embodiments described above can be combined with each other, except to the extent that it may be stated otherwise above or to the extent that any such embodiments might be mutually exclusive in function and/or structure.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments, it will be recognized that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described, but can be practiced with modification and alteration within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, the specification, drawings, and attached appendices are to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.
Claims
1. An apparatus for a wireless device, wherein the wireless device includes a housing and an interior region defined within the housing, wherein the housing has an exterior surface, and an interior surface opposite the exterior surface, and wherein the wireless device includes an antenna, the apparatus comprising:
- a non-metallic antenna break extending between the interior region and the exterior surface of the housing; and
- a light source located within the interior region proximal to the antenna break;
- wherein the antenna break allows passage of wireless signals to or from the antenna; and
- wherein the antenna break allows light from the light source to be transmitted from the interior region at least to the exterior surface of the housing for any of a display function or a sensing function.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light source includes a light emitting diode (LED).
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the LED is a color LED.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the wireless device includes a processor.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the light source is configured as a notification bar, and wherein the processor is configured to operate the notification bar for the display function based on a notification output.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light source is configured to emit a light signal based on a priority.
7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein for a high priority, the light signal is emitted with any of an increased periodic frequency or an increased intensity.
8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein for a low priority, the light signal is emitted with any of a decreased periodic frequency or a decreased intensity.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light source includes at least one laser diode.
10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light source is configured to emit a light signal having a sinusoidal intensity.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light source includes a laser diode having an output, and an optical diffuser for transmitting the output of the laser diode through the antenna break.
12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light source includes a plurality of light elements.
13. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
- a sensor having an output that corresponds to ambient light.
14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the intensity of the output of the light source is variable based on the output from the sensor.
15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the sensor is located within the interior region of the wireless device, and is configured to receive the ambient light through the antenna break.
16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light source is configured to emit infrared light, the apparatus further comprising:
- a sensor that is sensitive to infrared light, wherein the sensor is configured to receive the infrared light emitted from the light source, after being reflected from a target external to the apparatus, wherein the apparatus is configured as a three-dimensional (3D) sensor.
17. An apparatus for a wireless device, wherein the wireless device includes a housing and an interior region defined within the housing, wherein the housing has an exterior surface, and an interior surface opposite the exterior surface, and wherein the wireless device includes an antenna, the apparatus comprising:
- an antenna break extending between the interior region and the exterior surface of the housing, wherein the antenna break is configured to promote any of reception or transmission of wireless signals;
- a light source located within the interior region proximal to the antenna break; and
- an optical sensor located within the interior region proximal to the antenna break;
- wherein the antenna break allows passage of wireless signals to or from the antenna;
- wherein the antenna break allows light from the light source to be transmitted therethrough; and
- wherein the antenna break allows incoming light to be transmitted therethrough and be received by the optical sensor.
18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the light source and the optical sensor are configured for three-dimensional sensing.
19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the light source and the optical sensor are configured for user interaction through optical sensing.
20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the user interaction includes local control.
21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the user interaction includes an optical trackpad.
22. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the light source and the optical sensor are integrated for any of proximity sensing, heart rate sensing, fingerprint sensing, retinal scanning, or temperature scanning.
23. A process for a wireless device that includes a housing and an interior region defined within the housing, wherein the housing has an exterior surface, and an interior surface opposite the exterior surface, and wherein the wireless device includes a processor and a transceiver having an antenna, the process comprising:
- providing a non-metallic antenna break that is optically transmissive between the interior region and the exterior surface, wherein the antenna break allows passage of wireless signals to or from the antenna;
- determining a need to visually notify a user of the wireless device; and
- with the processor, controllably powering a light source located within the interior region proximal to the antenna break, to output a notification signal which is transmitted from the interior region at least to the exterior surface of the housing.
24. The process of claim 23, further comprising:
- determining a priority for the notification signal; and
- modifying the notification signal, based on the determined priority.
25. An apparatus for a wireless device, wherein the wireless device includes a housing and an interior region defined within the housing, wherein the housing has an exterior surface, and an interior surface opposite the exterior surface, and wherein the wireless device includes an antenna, the apparatus comprising:
- an antenna break extending between the interior region and the exterior surface of the housing; and
- a light source located within the interior region proximal to the antenna break;
- wherein the antenna break allows passage of wireless signals to or from the antenna; and
- wherein the antenna break allows light from the light source to be transmitted from the interior region at least to the exterior surface of the housing.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Oct 27, 2016
Date of Patent: Oct 24, 2017
Patent Publication Number: 20170125888
Assignee: ESSENTIAL PRODUCTS, INC. (Palo Alto, CA)
Inventors: Andrew E. Rubin (Los Altos, CA), Matthew Hershenson (Los Altos, CA), David John Evans, V (Palo Alto, CA), Xinrui Jiang (San Jose, CA), Xiaoyu Miao (Palo Alto, CA)
Primary Examiner: Tho G Phan
Application Number: 15/336,742
International Classification: H01Q 1/36 (20060101); H01Q 1/24 (20060101); H01Q 5/22 (20150101); H01Q 1/50 (20060101);